No handshake, no hello. Just heads buried in menus and hands reaching for the hummus. A tape recorder gathers silence; I scribble the word “awkward” onto a pad.

“I would like to classify my life as a romantic comedy. Unfortunately, I feel like that might be a far cry from the truth. Certainly a reality-TV show. New genre.”

(Los Angeles Times)

“Third floor, can’t miss him,” says the guy at the gym counter. And by floor two, looking up at that final flight of stairs, you understand.

(USA Weekend Magazine)

A teacher inspires her students through yoga, a bet, and a haircut.

(Santa Monica Daily Press)

Mackie says his father, Willie Mackie Sr., “told me as a kid, ‘To be is to work. Anything you’re going to do, you have to earn your stripes and work at it.’” Maybe that helps to explain how Mackie was able to return to the set just a few days after his father’s funeral.

(USA Weekend Magazine)

On a patch of the Mojave Desert in the city of Lancaster, Calif., five Minor League baseball players share a big yellow house surrounded by dry brush and tumbleweeds. It has two stories, six bedrooms and a modest patio.

And now it comes with a third story: a no-hitter.

(MLB.com)

What made Chalino Sanchez a legend in the Mexican music scene wasn't that he was shot as he sang onstage. It was that he pulled out a gun and fired back.

Evan Handler was excited about his new role on ‘Sex and the City’ until he read his character’s description: “boorish, overbearing and unattractive.”

(Los Angeles Times)

"It's all about getting you into a mood," he explained. "And a lot of TV is bright, equal, even lighting, but in life you don't always get that." He then looked around the New York City deli in which he sat. "I mean, look at me here, and I'm looking at you now -- there is a harsh light on top of you, and some of your face is in shadow.”

(Los Angeles Times)

A guest sports column for The Daily Cougar at the University of Houston, a place I’ll forever hold dear.